Page 77 of Her Ivory Flame

Chapter 28

When they arrived, everyone was standing around the fire and there seemed to be nothing wrong. Raine met her gaze and there was nothing but a casual smile on it.

“What’s going on?” she asked towards Finnley, who just glanced at Kaden nervously.

“Stay here.” Kaden barked and started towards the road with the rest of the males following.

She glared at the back of his head, some witty comeback at the tip of her tongue but she figured now was not a good time to pick a fight. Instead she walked closer to Raine and looked at her curiously.

“Do you know what is going on?” sheasked quietly.

“Not really. Xander came back from scouting and was all bothered. He whispered something to Finnley, who then went after you males.”

She glanced over her shoulder and could see all four men having an intense conversation. Another moment she wished she had fae hearing instead of Valkyrie.

“You think we are being followed?” she whispered.

“Who would follow us?”

“Anyone,” she said plainly and she saw Raine tense.

She was about to say something but heard footsteps approaching behind them. Her eyes caught the males returning to the circle around the fire, Kaden tense.

“So.” Finnley started. “We have a storm rolling in, one that will make it hard to travel so we will be staying here an extra day.”

“Can we stay here without being flooded?” She questioned.

“The ground is sloped towards the road. As long as the wind doesn’t blow hard enough to tear our tents, we should be fine.” Finnley answered and she glanced at Kaden, who was staring angrily into the fire.

“Why are you so upset?” she nudged him on the arm.

“It puts a delay in our timeline.” He grumbled.

“So?”

“I just don’t like it.” he snapped back and she glared at him in response.

“I hate storms.” Raine sighed and she saw Finnley glance toward the maiden with a smile.

“We need to be extra careful, the sound of the storm can mask any danger that might approach.” Kaden barked and everyone looked at him with a tense stare.

“What danger could there be?” Raine asked innocently.

“Bandits, mercenaries, assassins, and Trenchers to start with.” Xander spoke and she darted her eyes to him, still not used to the sound of his voice.

“Oh.” Raine mumbled.

“We will be fine.” Finnley reassured them, though she thought it was more for Raine’s worry than what he really thought.

“Stay close.” Kaden’s voice cut through the tension and she knew he was directing it at her.

“I learned my lesson about running off already, no need to worry,” she mumbled.

“Let’s get everything situated and reinforced, the storm is coming tonight.” Finnley added and the group started to disburse.

She grabbed the horses and brought them under the cover of the alcove, the sky already starting to darken. They had roped off an area between the wagon and the mountain wall for them to stay and hoped they wouldn’t run through it once the storm hit.

They were well trained horses as it was, but anything could spook a horse no matter how desensitized they were.